Instituta Laconia

Plutarch

Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. III. Babbitt, Frank Cole, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1931 (printing).

The Spartans, after drinking in moderation at their public meals, go away without a torch. In fact, they are not permitted to walk with a light either on this route or on any other, so that they may become

accustomed to travelling in darkness at night confidently and fearlessly.[*](Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Lycurgus, chap. xii. (46 f); Xenophon, Constitution of Sparta, 5. 7; Plato, Minos, 320 a.)